Scientists Read Last Rites for Beagle Mars Lander
Reuters

Deeply disappointed British scientists read the last rites for their missing Mars lander Beagle 2 Monday, and called for a new space mission to replace the life-seeking probe. “Under these circumstances we have to begin to accept that if Beagle 2 is on the Martian surface, it is not active,” Colin Pillinger, the probe’s lead scientist, told a news conference. “But now is not the time to grieve. We must look to the future.” After a series of attempts to contact the lander, which should have parachuted onto the surface of the Red Planet on Christmas day, one final attempt will be made to jolt it into life.